Development of Rare Earth Element Chemistry at the Department of Inorganic Chemistry at Tomsk State University

The stages of development of the chemistry of rare earth elements at the Department of Inorganic Chemistry of the Faculty of Chemistry of Tomsk State University are considered. The first stage is devoted to the study of the separation, as well as the qualitative and quantitative determination of rare earth elements (REE). The second stage is the development of methods for obtaining simple substances and complex compounds of REE. The third stage is to identify the possibility of practical use of materials based on REE compounds. The fourth stage is the study of the properties and methods for obtaining substances with reduced dimensionality, such as ultrafine powders, microclusters, nanoparticles, and thin films of REE compounds. The continuity of the scientific school on REE chemistry founded by Honored Professor V.V. Serebrennikov, Professor Doctor of Technical Sciences V.V. Kozik. V.V. Sere-brennikov was an innovator and organizer of promising directions in the development of REE chemistry, and his monograph was the first to summarize world experience in the field of REE chemistry. The article presents the main research results of the team of the Department of Inorganic Chemistry under the guidance of Professor V.V. Serebrennikov from 1936 to 1985 and under the guidance of Professor V.V. Kozik from 1986 to 2021. The developments of the formation of dispersed and thin-film oxide materials based on REE compounds by the sol-gel method under the influence of temperature and microwave radiation are listed. The resulting materials have unique optical, sensory, catalytic properties, and are chemically stable to aggressive media. Particular attention is paid to the study of the chemistry of cerium, its biological and photocatalytic activity, as well as the ability to form complexes with various organic ligands. The established dependencies composition-structure-properties made it possible to develop the scientific foundations for the purposeful synthesis of functionally sensitive inorganic substances and materials based on rare earth elements. This paper presents the main publications (articles, monographs), which reflect the results of research by the team of the Department of Inorganic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, Tomsk State University on REE chemistry in the period from 1956 to 2021. The article is illustrated with four photographs. Contribution of the authors: the authors contributed equally to this article. The authors declare no conflicts of interests.

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